Drawer locking mechanism for trunks



g- 1932- E. o. SUELFLOW ET AL DRAWER LOCKING MECHANISM FOR TRUNKS Filed May 19,1950 z sneets-sheet 1 Jon/v Mamp Aug. 2, 1932. E. o. SUELFLOW ET AL 1,879,149

DRAWER LOCKING MECHANISM FOR TRUNKS Filed May 19, 1950 2 S heetsrSheet 2 Fla. 3-

Fig. 5.

v gw vontoz 51101.. O. SUE'LFLOW a Jay/v MEIDL,

Patented Aug. 2, 1932 UNITED STATES eareerr cancel EMIL O. SUELFLOW AN D JOHN MEIDL, OF OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE BELBEB TRUNK & BAG COMPANY, OF WOODIBURY, NEW TEE- SEY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA DRAWER LOOKING MECHANISM FOR TRUNKS Application filed May 19,

thereon.

Another object of our invention is to provide a slidably mount-ed actuating member in the dome of said drawer section for actuating said lever to move said bar.

A further object of our invention is to have the vertical bar pivoted at its lower end only to the rear wall of the trunk section so that the bar can be swung laterally in locking and unlocking the drawers.

A further object'of our invention is to pro vide a link connection between the upper end of the vertical bar and the bell crank lever so that the latter, when operated, will swing the bar.

Another object of our invention is to provide means whereby a plurality of drawers arranged in ahorizontal row in the drawer section of the trunk may be simultaneously locked and unlocked through the medium of the vertical bar.

section of the trunk to show the drawer locking mechanism therein;

Figs. 3 and 4 are horizontal sectionalviews taken on lines 33 and H of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 shows a detail of structure to be hereinafter described.

The locking mechanism of our invention is adaptable for wardrobe trunks, and more particularly wardrobe trunks of the center 1930. Serial No. 453,605.

opening type which comprises two upright, hinged together sections 1, 2, as shown in Fig. 1. In the trunk illustrated, the section 1 is the wardrobe section, and the section 2 is the drawer section, the latter being designed to accommodate a tier of individually slidable drawers arranged one above the other, as shown in Fig. 1. All of the drawers extend substantially the full depth of the sections, and are completely housed therein when the drawers are in closed position, as shown in Fig. 5.

Certain of the drawers, such as the ones 3, 3, extend the full width of the section. In some trunk desi ns, a plurality of narrow drawers, such as 4:, 4 in Fig. 1, are arranged in a horizontal row at one place in the height of the section 2. These drawers extend the full depth of the section, but are considerably narrower than the width of the section so that usually three drawers are arranged in side by side relation, as shown in Figs. 1 and at. These drawers are usually divided, one from the other, by vertical partitions 5 which are built in the casing which forms the section 2. The drawers are all provided on their outer faces with pulls 6 which facilitate grasping the drawers for sliding them into and out of the section 2.

Upright cleats 7, 7 are secured in the section 2 at the innermost corners thereof, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. These cleats serve as stops for the inner ends of thedrawers, and prevent them from contact with the rear wall 8 of the section 2when the drawers are closed. Thus, there is provided between the rear wall 8 of the section 2 and the rear walls 9 of the drawers, a space in which is located a locking bar 10 which extends substantially the full height of the section, as shown in, Fig. 2. The bar 10 is pivoted at its lower end to a bracket 11, riveted to the rear wall 8. The several drawers 8, 3 have hook-shaped keepers 12, 12 secured to their rear walls 9 on the rear sides thereof, and such keepers are positioned so that the bar 10 may be swung laterally into and out of engagement with the keepers to simultaneously lock and unlock said drawers.

For simultaneously locking and unlocking all of the drawers which are arranged in a horizontal row in the section 2, we provide the rear of said drawers a horizontally disposed bar 13, preferably in the form of a flat strip of 'metal similar to the bar 10, and mounted for endwise sliding movement in straps 14, 14, secured to the inner face of the rear wall 8, as shown in Fig. 2. The auxiliary bar 13 crosses the rear side of the main bar 10 and is provided on its front side with an elongated suap 15. The major portion of this strap is offset outward from the front of the bar 13 and provides a space through which the main bar 10 extends, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. Depending hooks 16, 16 are provided on the auxiliary bar 13, one adjacent each end, which hooks in the endwise movement of the bar 13 are moved into and out of engagement with keepers 12 on the outermost of the drawers 1, 4-. The middle drawer 4 is provided with a similar :eeper 12*, which is engaged by the main bar 10 when the latter is swung into locking position, as shown in Fig. 2. The strap 15 is of such length and so positioned on the auxiliary bar 13 that the latter will be moved. endwise when the vertical bar contacts with the ends of the strap. In other words, when the main bar 10 is moved to lock the drawers, the auxiliary bar 13 is not moved until near the terminal positions of the main bar, at which time the movement of the auxiliary bar is suflicient to cause the books 16 to either lock or unlock, as the case may be, the outermost of the drawers 4, 4.

For actuating the main bar 10, and thus also the auxiliary bar 13, we provide the mechanism detailed in Fig. 3. This mecha nism comprises a bell crank lever 1'7 fulcrumed at 18 to a plate 19 fixed in the sec tion 2 on the under side of a hor zontal partition wall 20 at the top or dome part of the section above the uppermost drawer therein. A link 21 connects one arm of the lever 17 to the upper end of the main bar 10 through a short angle piece 22. An endwise movable fiat actuating member 23 is slidably mounted on the under side of the wall 20 in straps 24, 24 secured to said wall, the outer end of said member being accessible for grasping by extending through a recess in the lower edge of a molding strip 25 at the outer edge of said wall. The molding 25 extends between the top wall 26 of the trunk section 2 and the partition wall 20, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5 and provides a finish for the top part of the section. The other arm of the lever 17 has a pin and slot connection with the member 23, the pin 27, in the form shown, being fixer to the member and extending through an elongated slot 28 in the lever arm. By the construction shown and described, the bars 10 and .13 are moved to lock the drawers 3 and 4 when the member 23 is pushed inward,

and moved to unlock the drawers when the member is pulled outward. To facilitate grasping of the outer end of the member 23, we provide the same with a pull 29, preferably in a form of a loop which may be swung to extend downward to lie against'the outer face of the uppermost drawer to be out of the way when the trunk sections 1, 2 are closed together.

To lock the locking mechanism described against unauthorized movement, as when all the drawers in the section are closed, we provide a slot 30 in the member 23 near its outer end and into this slot is projected a bolt 31 of a key-operated lock 32' mounted on the inside of the front wall of the uppermost drawer 3. The bolt takes into a slot in a metal keeper plate 33 set in the recess through which the member 23 extends.

The lever 17 and its actuating parts are prevented from contact with the articles packed in the uppermost drawer 3 by a wall 3% below the partition wall 20, as shown in Fig. 5. Wall 3% is suitably secured in the trunk section 2, and the side walls of the drawer are reduced in height to accommodate the arrangement.

The locking mechanism shown and de' scribed is simple in construction and operation. It provides an effective and eiiicient drawer lock, and serves when operated to lock and unlock all of the drawers at the same time. The pull member 23 is arranged to be over the center of the tier of drawers, and the loop 29 is thus in a symmetrical position. The link 21 has a pivotal connection with the lever 17 and also with the angle piece the latter also having a pivotal connection with the bar 10. By arranging the auxiliary bar 13 at right angles to and crossing the main bar 10, the latter may be employed to move the auxiliary bar with the use of but one actuating member 23.

lVith the lock 32 carried by the uppermost drawer 3, the latter will be locked when the pull member 23 is locked, thus making it unnecessary to provide said drawer with a keepor 12 for the bar 10. A guide strap 35 is s cured in the section 2 for the portion of the bar 10 between its lower end and the auxiliary bar 13 to prevent warping of such portion of the main bar. 7

The details of structure shown and described may be variously changed and modilied without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. A drawer locking mechanism, comprising in combination with a drawer containing section and a tier of drawers therein, keepers on the rear of the drawers, a bar mounted in said section to the rear of the drawers and movable in a perpendicular plane into and out of locking engagement with said keepers, and means including a bell-crank lever mounted in said section for movement in a horizontal plane and connected with said bar for moving the same.

2. A drawer locking mechanism, comprising in combination with a drawer containing section and a tier of drawers therein, keepers on the rear of the drawers, a bar mounted in said section to the rear of the drawers and movable in a perpendicular plane into and out of locking engagement with said keepers, a bell-crank lever mounted in said section for movement in a horizontal plane and connected with said bar, and an actuating member for said lever and accessible from the exterior of the drawers.

3. A drawer locking mechanism, comprising in combination with a drawer containing section and a tier of drawers therein, keepers on the rear of the drawers, a bar mounted in said section to the rear of the drawers and movable in a perpendicular plane into and out of locking engagement with said keepers, a bell-crank lever mounted in said section above said drawers for movement in a horizontal plane, an endwise movable actuating member for the lever and connected with one arm of the same, and a link connecting the other arm of the lever with said bar.

4. Adrawerlockingmechanism,comprising in combination with a drawer containing section having a tier of drawers therein, keepers on the rear of the drawers, an upright bar to the rear of the drawers and movable into and out of locking engagement with said keepers, said bar being pivotally mounted at its lower end only in said section, a bell-crank lever mounted in the upper portion of the section above the drawers and disposed for movement transverse to said bar, a link pivoted at one end to said lever, means pivotally connecting the other end of the link to the upper end of said bar, and actuating means for the lever accessible from the exterior of the drawers.

5. A drawer locking mechanism, comprising in combination with a drawer containing section having a tier of wide drawers and narrow drawers therein with, the narrow drawers arranged in a row in side by side relation, two bars for simultaneously locking and unlocking said drawers, the bar for the narrow drawers being the auxiliary bar and crossing the main bar for the other drawers on the rear side thereof, and a strap connected with the auxiliary bar and crossing the main bar on the front side thereof whereby the movement of one bar will impartv movement to the other.

6. A drawer locking mechanism, comprising in combination with a drawer containing section having a tier of wide drawers and narrow drawers therein with the narrow drawers arranged in a row in side by side relation, two bars tor simultaneously locking and unlocking said drawers, the bar for the narrow drawers crossing the other bar, and lost motion means connecting the bars whereby the movement of one bar will impart movement to the other, said connecting means delaying the movement or the bar for the narrow drawers until just in advance of t ie other bar reaching its terminal positions.

7. A drawer locking mechanism, comprising in combination with a drawer containing section having a tier of wide drawers and narrow drawers therein with the narrow drawers arranged in arow in side by side relation, two bars for simultaneously locking and unlocking said drawers, the bar for the narrow drawers being the auxiliary bar and crossing the other bar which is the main one, and means connecting said bars whereby the movement of one will impart movement to the other, said bars being so disposed with respect to the drawers that at least one of the narrow drawers will be locked and unlocked by the main bar.

8. A drawer locking mechanism, comprising in combination with a drawer containing section and a tier of drawers therein, keepers on the rear of the same, a bar mounted in said section to the rear of the drawers and movable in a perpendicular plane into and out of locking engagement with said keepers, a bell-crank lever mounted in said section for movement in a horizontal plane and connected with said bar, an actuating member for said lever and accessible from the exterior of the drawers, and a lock for said member.

9. A drawer locking mechanism, comprising in combination with a drawer containing section and a tier of drawers therein, keepers on the rear of the drawers, a bar mounted in said section to the rear of the drawers and movable in a perpendicular plane into and i out of locking engagement with said keepers, a bell-crank lever mounted in said section for movement in a horizontal plane and connected with said bar, an endwise movable actuating member slidably mounted in the section and connected with said lever, and a lock for the member carried by one of the drawers.

10. A drawer locking mechanism, compris ing in combination with a drawer containing section having a tier of drawers therein, keepers on the rear of the drawers, an upright bar to the rear of the drawers and movable in a perpendicular plane into and out of locking engagement with said keepers, a bell- I crank lever mounted in the section for move ment in a horizontal plane and connected with said bar, an endwise movable actuating member mounted in the section and connected with said lever, said member having a slot ii -I therein, and a lock carried by one of the drawers and having a bolt to be projected into the slot in one position of said member.

11. A drawer locking mechanism, comprising in combination with a drawer containing section and a tier of drawers therein, keepers on the rear of the drawers, a bar mounted in said section to the rear of the drawers and movable in a perpendicular plane into and out of locking engagement With said keepers, a bell-crank lever mounted in the upper portion of the section above the drawers for movement in a horizontal plane and connected With said bar, a slide connected with said lever for moving the same and accessible from the exterior of the drawers, and means incorporated in the section to house the lever and the slide.

In testimony whereof We afiix our signatures.

EMIL O. SUELFLOl/V. JOHN MEIDL. 

